Spoor Cottage, Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada, photo above — Author Jannet L. Walsh in front of Spoor Cottage, located in the village of Marysville on Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada. Self portrait, September 10, 2023.

‘Irish Bard’ Jannet L. Walsh, finds roots on Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada

Jannet L. Walsh
August 15, 2024
Murdock, Minnesota

Wolfe Island holds my family’s precious Irish and Canadian history, along my heart, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River.

I’ve been chasing Canadian family history in Ontario for the past two years of my Irish Walsh family as a grant recipient from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, SMCA, Artist Growth Grant, 2022 – 2024. Funding for this program was provided by the McKnight Foundation. Minnesota thrives when its artists thrive. The McKnight Foundation supports working artists to create and contribute to vibrant communities.

The grant started October 1, 2022, and ends Aug. 29, 2024. The project is a nonfiction quest narrative genre writing project, with the title of Nonfiction Quest Narrative Genre Writing Project – Family Stories: Minnesota and Irish Diaspora. The goal of the project is to create a manuscript, with hopes of becoming my second book.

Simply put, this grant helped bring to reality my dream of seeing and writing about where my family lived as Irish immigrants, 1842-1877, as people of the land and sea on Wolfe island near the city of Kingston, Ontario, reached only by ferry today, as well as in the past.

I’m likely the first known person in my family to return to Wolfe Island since 1877, before migrating south to De Graff, in rural Swift County, Minnesota. They were part of a mainly Irish and Catholic colony started by the late Bishop John Ireland, later named Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Saint Paul.

My family is one of the four thousand Catholic families Archbishop Ireland helped resettle in west central and southwest Minnesota during the years of 1875-1885. Archbishop Ireland’s goals were to alleviate the perceived problems of nativist prejudice (anti immigrant), poverty, and loss of religion faced by urban Catholics (particularly Irish) on the east coast and poor Catholics still in Ireland by relocating them to low cost farmland in western Minnesota. Today I live just three miles from De Graff, in Murdock, Minnesota, in the same house my father was born in 1924. 

Artist Statement for writing project
“I continue in my established nonfiction writing practice to tell stories of my rural Minnesota Irish family, expanding to family’s forgotten Canada. When possible, I will write in first person and present tense, engage readers in Irish family history detective work as it happens, writing in notebooks to capture thoughts and events. Readers imagine they are walking with me in rural Minnesota and Canada.”

Jannet L. Walsh
2022 grant application,
Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Artist Growth Grant, McKnight Foundation, 2022-2024

My father, the late Martin J. Walsh Jr., of Murdock, Minnesota, would say when I was a child, and was telling stories of our family’s history and connection to the island of Ireland, “We are Archbishop John Ireland’s people.”

It just happened to be the Archbishop’s last name was the same as the country my people left behind in the mid 1800s. Read and learn more about my dad, and his 1953 trip to Ireland at my 2022 blog.

Project mentors, writing and research

This writing project included two official mentors I contacted before the grant specific to the areas of history and writing. Mentoring was by phone, online video, in person during the writing process, and while I was in Canada and at home in Minnesota.

— The Rev. Gary E. Mills, Th. D., is the Director Swift County Historical Society in Benson, Minnesota, and is a history and genealogy expert. View the Swift County Historical Society Museum website.

— Ms. Tracy Ross, has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She is a published poet and nonfiction author, educator, college professor, and served as the writing expert for this project. View her website.

Mentoring included topics of research, history, writing, travel planning, sorting out topics to write about, or save for future writing projects. There is likely a future writing project I would like to pursue based on family research I stumbled on during this grant related to Irish living is Edinburgh, Scotland’s Little Ireland neighborhood.

It’s all too easy to get lost researching, and become overwhelmed. Time is often the best part of the equation for sorting out what’s important or not. It’s best to get lost momentarily in a black hole of facts and original artifacts, and come out the other side with new ideas.

Irish migration — I have come to understand more and more about the migration of my Irish ancestors from the island of Ireland in Europe to North American, Canada and the United States. I’m the result of my family’s emigration from Ireland, about 1842 for my Walsh family to Kingston and Wolfe Island, Ontario. I’m now living in rural Dublin Township in Swift County, Minnesota where my ancestors might have envisioned their lives, and a location for future generations to thrive.

August 14, 2024, yesterday at the Swift County Fair in Appleton, Minnesota, I estimated at least three generations of my Walsh family was at the opening day of the 126th Annual Swift County Fair, not far from the fair barns. At one point in the fair show ring, four young Walsh descendants were exhibiting their calves during the 4-H beef show, all with roots back to Wolfe Island, and County Kilkenny, Ireland. My Walsh family came as farmers to Minnesota from Canada, and most likely were farmers in Ireland. Today, many of the family are still living and connected to Swift County’s agricultural community.

Although the grant period is ending, my writing project continues. My first trip was in winter 2022-23.  Brian P. Johnson, retired Captain of the Wolfe Islander III, of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, wrote about my winter adventure during one of the worst blizzards in about four decades. His story published March 18, 2023, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minnesota. Read about the Irish Diaspora writing project at the project page.

“When Jannet told me, ‘the whole house was shaking, even my bed,’ it planted a seed. Then trudging through deep snowdrifts to attend Christmas Eve Mass by candlelight, that was the beginning. She also told me about a lady calling out from a porch, ‘Don’t get lost in the forest!’
Here’s a story all right!”

Brian P. Johnson, Facebook page

Summer 2023, I returned to Kingston and Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada, August 28 to September 12. I personally funded this portion of travels to Wolfe Island. My second trip to Wolfe Island was to explore my family roots on the largest island of the Thousands Island located in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, situated next to the international borders of Canada and the United States. It’s about 1,200 miles round trip from my home in rural Murdock, Minnesota to Wolfe Island, Ontario. The final miles of the trip from mainland North American, Kingston to Wolfe Island, are completed by a 20 minute ferry ride, carrying about 55 vehicles, currently serviced by the Wolfe Islander III. As of August 17, 2024, a new electric ferry, the Wolfe Islander IV is scheduled to be in full service after a three year wait by residents.

What happens next?

Writing for my project is based on facts, research, my personal encounters, and finding during the two visited to Canada and at home in Minnesota, 2022-2024. The writing is approximately 75 percent complete. I anticipate finishing the manuscript in 2025, and then present to potential publishers.

The findings, and details to my manuscript will remain private until published as a book.

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Why I returned to Wolfe Island, summer 2023
One of the major reasons I returned to Wolfe Island in summer 2023 was to visit the farm my Walsh ancestors leased and lived on Wolfe Island, about 1850-1877, along with other related family farms. I wanted to see where the family cabin was located according to historical maps on Seventh Line Road north of Baseline Road on Wolfe Island, Wolfe Island. I also wanted to explore the island not covered in snow and ice, and see the land and water around Wolfe Island.

Returning for a second time to Wolfe Island, I had an incredible opportunity to meet with islanders and learn more about the history of the land, water, people, and especially the time period my family lived most of the year removed from mainland due to winter freezing of the St. Lawerence River.

About Wolfe Island – Wolfe Island is in St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, almost four miles from the port of Kingston, accessible by ferry, and the largest island in the archipelago of the Thousand Islands. 

This 48-square-mile island has been home to several European ethnic groups, cheese factories, and dairy farms, along with a history of fur trading. Wolfe Island is the native homeland of the Tyendinaga Mohawk, kawehnóhkwes tsi kawè:note, meaning Long Island Standing. Wolfe Islanders are completely dependent on access to mainland Canada by the Wolfe Island Ferry III to Kingston, soon to be replaced by a zero-emission ferry, Wolfe Island Ferry IV. Locals reference the journey the ferry takes in the St. Lawrence River as a water road, or Highway H₂0.

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Wolfe Island Historical Society Talk, September 10, 2023

Title of talk — Walsh expedition to Wolfe Island 2022-2023 – ‘Irish Bard’ Jannet L. Walsh finds roots in Ontario, Canada, Wolfe Island Historical Society
Location — Wolfe Island United Church, 52 Victoria St, Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada.
Video online from talk — View link to video at YouTube by Mike Hill, Wolfe Island Historical Society talk – a Journey from Ireland to Minnesota. 
Attendance — About 35-40 people attended talk
Date and time — September 10, 2023, 1:30 pm

Link to the pamphlet mentioned in talk — Catholic Colonization in Minnesota Revised Edition, 1879, author Catholic Colonization Bureau of Minnesota, Archbishop John Ireland, view at The Project Gutenberg EBook.

I was thrilled when I was invited to talk to Wolfe Island Historical Society. During my visit to Wolfe Island, I had the pleasure to talk about my Irish family ties to Wolfe Island, about 1842-77, along with my quest to find stories and places of origin of my family in Ireland Canada, Scotland and at home in Minnesota.

My great grandfather Michael J. Walsh Jr. was born in Kingston or Wolfe Island, 1858, baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Wolfe Island. Four generations of my family lived on Wolfe Island, 13 births, and one burial are directly associated with my Walsh family. A portion of the family, Patrick Walsh, oldest son of my great-great grandfather Michael J. Walsh Sr., remained until Wolfe Island until the 1880-90s before migrating to Philadelphia. Patrick “Pat” Walsh has farm on Wolfe Island near Irvine Bay.

Photos from Wolfe Island Historical Society Talk, September 10, 2023

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Thank You!

There were numerous people, and organizations, in Kingston and Wolfe Island, I received help along the way during my time in Canada. Listed below is a short listing of organizations or businesses I received help from, transportation by ferry, resources, or assistance around Wolfe Island. Special thanks to the Wolfe Island Historical Society staff for all their help locating resources, farms, and finding my forgotten Canadian family history.

• Wolfe Island Historical Society
• Aero Snapper Kingston, Mike Hill
• Fargo’s General Store, Wolfe Island
• Horne’s Ferry, Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent, NY
• Hotel Wolfe Island
• Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Wolfe Island
• St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kingston
• Simceo Ferry, Wolfe Island to Simceo Island
• Wolfe Islander III, Kingston to Wolfe Island
• Wolfe Island Pub and Pizzeria, WIPP

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council and the McKnight Foundation for founding my grant, and all current and future professional and artist opportunities as the result of the writing project to Kingston and Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada.

If I am lucky, I will ride on the new Wolfe Islander IV ferry, and step foot on Wolfe Island in the very near future.

Best wishes,
Jannet L. Walsh

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Genealogy, family history resources

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Artist Grant – Learn more about supporting agencies of this project

This activity is made possible by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council with funds from The McKnight Foundation.

The Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) is a non-profit organization committed to promoting and encouraging the development of the arts in the eighteen counties of southwestern Minnesota by serving as a source of funds and technical services which enable local organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to sponsor and/or create and promote the arts in their communities.

The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, seeks to improve the quality
of life for present and future generations. Program interests include regional economic and community development, Minnesota’s arts and artists, education equity, youth engagement, Midwest climate and energy, Mississippi River water quality, neuroscience research, international crop research, and rural livelihoods. Founded in 1953 and independently endowed by William and Maude McKnight, the Foundation has assets of approximately $2.2 billion and grants about $90 million a year. 

Minnesota Residents – Search for similar arts grants at regional arts councils at the Minnesota State Arts Board website.

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Book — Please find full details, summary, reviewer’s comments on my book page, Higgledy-Piggledy Stones.

Irish Diaspora Writing Project — Please see details and previous blogs and stories posted about my Irish Diaspora writing project at my project page, and learn about my grant from Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Artist Growth Grant, McKnight Foundation, 2022-2024.

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*Jannet L. Walsh of Murdock, Minnesota is a photographer, writer, and educator. She is the author of a creative nonfiction quest narrative “Higgledy-Piggledy Stones: Family Stories from Ireland and Minnesota,” publication 2023 by Shanti Arts Publishing. Walsh is recipient of a Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Growth Grant funded by the McKnight Foundation, 2022-2024. She is also recipient a 2024 Minnesota Arts Board Creative Individuals Grant. You can follow Walsh on Facebook and Twitter, and on her other social media channels, with the hashtag #IrishFamilyHistoryDetective.